This disclosure is thus directed to blister packages and, more particularly, to easy-opening blister packages which, after opening, maintain a neat appearance. A package is made of a blister whose flanges are sealed between two paperboard cards. The blister has two halves that may be separated to gain access to the package. The two halves may be held together by the paperboard cards, until the package is opened by a controlled tear or break across the paperboard cards, after which the blister halves may be separated.
The package allows the user easy access, without a tool, into a blister container that is initially sealed. The package may then be placed into a reclosed, unsealed configuration, with good appearance similar to an unopened package.
Manufacturers and retailers of consumer goods, such as pharmaceuticals, software, electronics, health and beauty products and the like, typically package their products in tamper resistant security packages. For example, many consumer goods are packaged in blister or clamshell packages formed by positioning a consumer good in a flanged blister made from various polymeric and/or paperboard materials and sealing the flanged blister between two paperboard substrates. Consumers have voiced disapproval of such packages because of the difficulty of opening the same and the potential for being cut on a rough edge especially of plastic blisters. Packages may therefore be made based largely on paperboard, for example, NATRALOCK packages. Packaging made primarily of paperboard is more sustainable than packaging made from petroleum-based plastics. The paperboard used in such packages may be tear-resistant as described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,635.
Some packages may comprise a paperboard card and a polymeric blister. In any case it would be advantageous to have a package that protects its contents well but is fairly easy to open. Advantageously the package may be opened without seriously degrading its appearance. Advantageously the package may also be reclosed after it is opened.